Neo Cali Clay At the Mendocino Art Center
The Neo Cali Clay group show is now on display at the historic Mendocino Art Center from now until March 29th.
What is Neo Cali Clay you ask!?
Neo Cali Clay is a unique group of ceramic artists working primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are inspired by the landscape and rich history of our region. Its location on the frontier of the continent has kept the Bay Area in a state of flux through a constant exchange of cultures, ideas, ecology, and art. This is why our region has been such a fertile ground for new art movements such as California Funk, Bay Area figurative, and the Mission School. The NCC group creates work that builds on this rich legacy of historical influence, while also reflecting the current conditions in our ever-changing world.
The group developed organically through exhibitions, group studio visits, and mutual admiration for each other’s work. While each member has their own unique voice, many members of the group share specific aesthetic, material, and conceptual qualities that closely overlap. In this manor there is a degree of both variety and continuity that activates the group creatively. The NCC group is committed to the unique and versatile materials of clay and glaze yet they transcend the ceramic genre through their highly representational subject matter, non-traditional surface resolutions, and occasional use of mixed media.
As the NCC group members process and critique the world around them they express their contemplations and concerns through the vehicle of human and animal forms in clay. Their anthropomorphic animal forms often serve as metaphors for psychological and environmental issues. These highly refined sculptures offer new truths about the changes happening in ecosystems both large and small, the complex interworking of the mind, and the mysteries found in the passage of time. Intertwined with a multiplicity of fine and intimate detail, these hybrid figurative works allow the viewer to escape into a world of fantastical realism. Referencing folk lore and occult spirituality the NCC group suggest a mythology that is in keeping with a diverse and interconnected world in motion.
Instagram @NEO.CALI.CLAY
WEBSITES
Calvin Ma calvinmasculpts.com
Erika Sanada erikasanada.com
Mark Jaeger markjaegerstudio.com
Joseph Kowalczyk joko.us
Crystal Morey crystalmorey.com
Evan Hobart evanhobart.com
Wesley T. Wright Wesleytwright.com
Malia Landis malialandis.com
Steven M. Allen sfclay.com
